Dricks



A. HENDRICKS.

WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13, 1919' 1,322,693, Patented Nov. 25, 1919.

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UNrirnio Farmer eneus'rm Hnnnarcks, or GRAND RAPIDS, reminder.

WHEEL.

To all whom; it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUeUsTrN HEN- 'nRIcKs, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids,

larly vehicle wheels and more particularly,

motor vehicle wheels. It is {in object and purpose of the present invention to produce avery simple, durable and efiiclent wheel,

particularly adapted for motor vehicle use and one in which a core of relatively light, more or less compressible material, such .as wood, may be sealed within a metal. inclosure or" cover therefor, a disk wheel being made which has the qualities of lightness and resiliency of wood and the finish and durability of metal, us e being made also of cheaper grades of wood which, in the well known present types'of wood wheels can- ,not be used at all. The invention consists of various novel constructions and arrangements of parts to form a finished metal 1ncased but wood cored disk wheel as will appear fully and in detail as understanding of the invention is had from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

' Figure 1 1s a slde v1ew of a wheel made in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse yertical section on the line 22, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the central;

used in connection with the-construction of.

the wheel where the air .valve passes inwardly from the air tube.

Fig. 8 is a similar view of the hub member through the side 10 in alinement with the openings-7 the core and an opening 9 used. with one form of the wheel.

Fig. 9 shows elevations of the disks of Specification of Letteas Patent. J

in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have veneer used to make the preferred form of c0re, the lines thereon indicating direction of'grain in the wood, and

Fig. 10 is a section, similar toFig. 2 of a difi'erent andcheaper modification of wheel construction.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the difi'crent views of the drawings.

In constructing the wheel, I provide a core, preferably of. wood and made up of several thin disks, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 laid against each other and glued together, using any suitable, waterproof glue. In practice, there may be more or less than five disks or veneers, but in all cases, it is desirable that the grain of the wood in the different disks shall run diflerently. For example, in Fig. 9, the middle disk 1 has the grain indicated 'as running horizontally, that of disks 2 and 4 placedone at each side of the middle disk, at angles of substantially 60 degrees with the horizontal and vertical, respectively, and that of disks 3 and 5 at the outs'ide'of the core at angles of 90 degrees to the grain of'dlsks 2' and 4. This gives strength to the core, though it is to be understood that many different angles of positioning the grain in the different disks or veneers may be resorted to without. changing the strengthening action of such arrangement. The'core is cut to true circular form'and at its center a circular opening 6 is cut around which a plurality of smaller openings 7 may be made through the core for passage of,

the securing bolts or studs used commonly to attach motor vehicle wheels to hubs. Ad- ]acent the outer'edge of the core at one point an opening 8 is made therethrough com diameter as the opening 6 in the core and the metal is turned outwardly to form an annular flange 12 around such opening. In addition a plurality of openings 7 are made Patented Nov. 25,1919.

Application filed January 13, 1919. Seria1 N0. 270,940.

is made in the flange 11 to come in alinement with the opening 9 in the core.

A second member of sheet meta-l is used to complete the metal casing for the core,

comprising a circular side 18 and an ann'ular flange 14 around the edges of the same, said side havinga central opening 6 and a plurality of smaller openings 7 b there" through to aline with the openings 6' and 7 in the core. The core is placed in the first member against the side 10 thereof in proper position to aline the various openings, and the second pan-shaped member aga nst the opposite side of the core, after which that portion of the flange 11 extending beyond the flange 14: is turned around flange 14 and spun into the shape best shown in Fig. 2, tightly sealing the core within the metal incasing members, the operation of turning and spinning the flange 14 making a practically moisture proof 'joint, while the outer portions of the core are compressed to a slight degree, depending more or less on the way the spinning operation is carried out, so that the core is held firmly against movement with respect to the incasing members.

The side. 13 has an opening out there through to aline with the opening 8 in the core. Through said openings a thimble is inserted comprising sides 16, bottom 17 and an outer flange 18 which comes against the outside ofthe side 18, the bottom 17 coming against the side 10 of the first incasing member to which it may be permanently secured by spot welding. An opening is made through the side of said thimble to aline with the openings 9 and 9 in the core and outer flange'll, this being for the passage of the usual tire Valve stem from the air tube I of pneumatic tires, acce'ss being had to said the flange 12 and is turned back and spun around said flange as shown in Fig. 2, a very tight and moisture proof-connection being made. The flange 20 has a plurality of openings to aline with the openings 7 through the core, and, preferably, the metal around such openings is struck inwardly as indicated at 22 to further strengthen the wheel center and furnish greater bearing for the connecting studs which pass through said openings. For a cheaper constructionthe flange 12 may be omitted and the sleeve the different veneers or laminations. placed the same.

-many grades of Wood not now available for wheel construction, but which incased in metal and protected from the Weather are strong and durable, particularly when putup in laminated form and'with the grain of the wood running at different angles in The metal parts of the Wheel are of relatively thin gage metal readilystamped and formed and quickly connected together asdescribed. On this wheel any of the difl'erent standard rims may be attached, and particularly the ring for receiving demountable rims may be advantageously attached, partly by spot weldingthe same to the flange projecting beyond the body of the wheel made by turning the part 15 around the edge of the flange 14. It is to be notechthat the comparative thicknesses of the metal parts as shown in the drawings are necessarily exaggerated and that this projecting flange in practice will readily weld to',said ring. The wheel may be attached to any of the standard hubs either permanently or so as to be demounted. Moreover, the construction is light and resilient as well as strong and deadens noises ordinarily produced by moving motor Vehicles rather than accentuating the same purely disk metal wheels do.

. In Fig. 10 a cheaper construction is shown. The core is the same in all respects. There are two sheet metal iiicasing members one having a side 23 and a flange 24 similar to side 10 and flange 11 except that the central flange 12 is omitted and the flange 24: is of less length than the flange 11. The other member has a side 26 and an inturned flange 27 which passes inside of the flange 24 of the othermember, the projecting edge of flange 24: being turned to lie against the side 26 as shown at 28. The various openings to pass the hub, attaching studs and the valve stem are provided, and instead of a thimble a sleeve 29 is used, the effect being This construction may have usual and ordinary rims attached thereto and may be used where cheaper wheel construction is desirable. The thimbles 16 or sleeves 29 may be used in considerable numbers if it is desirable to make a positive lock between the core and the outer casing near the outer portions of the same.

I claim:

1. A Wheel comprising a core of multipleply veneer material and a metal covering incasing the same,v substantially as described.

2'. A wheel comprising a core of wood formed of multiple-ply veneer, two metal incasing members located one at each side of the core, and means for permanently securing said members together to completely incase the same and protect the core from the weather, substantially as described.

3. A wheel comprising a core formed of a plurality of thin disks glued together, and a metal cover completely incasing and making a weather tight covering for the same, substantially as described.

4. A wheel comprising a solid core of relatively light material formed of a plurality or thin veneer disks glued together, a metal cover incasing the same, said core andcover having a centrally located opening therethrough, and a reinforcing sleeve passed through said openin' and permanently secured to the cover, su stantially as described.

5. A wheel comprising a solid core of wood, a sheet metal cover incasing the same, said core and cover having a centrally located opening therethrough and one side.

of the cover having an outwardly projecting flange around the opening, and a sleeve provided at one end with an outwardly extending annular flange passed through said.

opening to bring the flange against one side of the cover and with the end of the sleeve turned around the flange around the opening at the opposite side of thecoi er, substantially as described.

6. A wheel comprlslng a solidcore of wood, a sheet metal cover incasing the same,

i said cover and core adjacent one edge thereof having transverse openings therethrough, and a metal lining for the openings, said lining and core having alined openings, the opening in the core extending inwardly from the edge thereof to the lining, substantially as described.

7. A wheel comprising a Wood core, a sheet metal incasing member into which the core is placed, said member having a side and an annular flange extending beyond the opposite side ofthe core, a second incasing member comprising a side and a shorter flange extending in the same direction as the flange on the first member, said second member being located against the core with its flange within the flange of the first member, and means for connecting the incasing members together consisting of a return bend of the flange of the first memben-aroundthe flange of the second member, substantially as described. 8. A wheel comprising "a wood core consisting of a plurality of thin disks of wood veneer glued together, with the grain in core, and means permanently joining the 'members together at adjacent edges thereof and tightly sealing thecore against contact with the weather, substantially as described. r In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

AUGUSTIN HENDRICKS.

' adjacent disks lying at angles to each other, 

